re: tax selling and oil to 100 Qantas probes plane collision...

re: tax selling and oil to 100 Qantas probes plane collision

www.theage.com.au

Passenger Greg Close took this photograph of the wing from the Qantas 747 after it hit a fence at New York's JFK airport.

Passenger Greg Close took this photograph of the wing from the Qantas 747 after it hit a fence at New York's JFK airport.
Photo: Greg Close
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By Debbie Cuthbertson, Vanessa Burrow
May 30, 2006 - 3:32PM
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Qantas is investigating an incident in which one of its jets carrying more than 200 passengers hit a fence at a United States airport.

One passenger on the flight has told theage.com.au the flight was like a minor collision in a car park.

The wing tip of a Qantas Boeing 747-400 struck a blast fence at new York's JFK Airport around 5pm local time yesterday (7am AEST), a Qantas spokesman has confirmed.

"QF107 from Los Angeles with 204 passengers on board was taxiing to the terminal at the time," the spokesman said.

"We understand it was being directed by an airport marshaller. No-one was hurt as a result of the incident."

Flight cancelled

Flight QF 108 from New York to Sydney flight was cancelled as a result of the incident, the spokesman said. Passengers on that flight have been booked on other flights, as have passengers who joined QF107 in Los Angeles. They are yet to depart.

The spokesman said he could not estimate the cost of the damage to the jet.

"We are currently assessing repairs needed to the wing tip," he said.

Qantas had notified the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and relevant US authorities about the incident, and would be conducting its own investigation.

"No one was hurt as a result of the incident and passengers were kept updated at all times by the flight crew," the spokesman said.

Passengers on board the flight said it took Qantas and airport staff about an hour to get the plane clear of the blast fence at the edge of the tarmac.

Greg, a passenger travelling on the flight to New York from Sydney via LA, told theage.com.au no one was injured or distressed in the minor accident.

'A bit like a car park accident'

"(It was) a bit like a car park accident, you know, when you bump one of those poles," he said.

"Everyone was pretty amused by it all."

Another passenger, who preferred not to be identified, said the flight crew appeared to overshoot the guide line for turning into the gate.

"Moments later a loud, shuddering groan shook the aircraft and we came to a stop," he said.

"Looking out the windows, we could see that the starboard wingtip had hit a blast fence . . . the damage to the leading edge of the wingtip was clearly visible."

The man said the first officer announced the accident, saying, "There's not much room to manoeuvre".

Crews lightened the wing by pumping fuel into the port wing fuel tank and removing luggage and cargo, and the wing was lifted clear of the fence.